Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Letter dated 17 March 2014--mini companion and Achada Sao Filipe

Oi Família e Amigos!

Well Mom, I have to let you know that when you wrote me giving me a virtual pinch if I wasn't wearing green, I looked down and to my luck, green tie :P
 
Happy Saint Patricks day for all of you and also Happy Birthday, Sarah Dorman! (It helps to remember birthdays when they are on the same day as holidays.) Also, Happy Belated Birthday Kylie! Don't think I forgot. My planner is super decorated to celebrate it. 
 
This week was a ton of work but if you look at my numbers (number of lessons and new people we found, etc.) for the week it doesn't reflect everything that happened. First, Elder Conduanhe stayed with me 5 days after the transfer started. He should have gone to Tarrafal way before but because of his ear problem he stayed and I helped him with his visits to the hospital. I make that sound like he is dying but in reality, he is doing good. No reason to worry. He just went in for an exam and the results were all good. So, the same day that he left, my mini missionary from Fogo arrived. His name is Elder Gonçalves.  His is only a month older than me and he is waiting for his visa to Brazil. It sounds like he will be leaving me pretty quick though, as another mini annouced that they were leaving on the 26th. It's kind of is sad because he is a great Elder. We joke around a lot but when it is time to work, we work hard.
 
So interviews were good. So like I told you, I asked President why Achada Grande Frente didn't get Elders this transfer and his answer was the following. He, as Mission President has the keys to send missionaries where they are needed but it is the Stake President's keys that determine where missionaries are needed the most. When Achada Grande turned into a ward and got it's own building, it became much less of a priority so the Stake moved focus on the struggling branches and wards in the interior. So when President was making transfers, he literally ran out of Elders and didn't have enough missionaries to put in 2 companionships. So the area isn't closed, just empty for now. When we get more missionaries, it will be filled. He helped me understand what happened and also just helped me with a lot of things. It was great!
 
Zone Leaders: Elders Acord and Gooch
 
So, about my new location, Achada São Filipe. To give you a little idea its sort of a weird mixture of Fogo, Achada Grande, and Palamrajo (like the nicest part of Praia). For example, I could walk into one house and be like, "Wow, this place is home!" and others like "Why is this zombie dog trying to eat my ankle?" It's pretty funny. But I like the area and our house is nice. I got to our place and found some hot chocolate packets and a microwave! Oh, what a nice afternoon. But it takes about 30 minutes to walk from one side of my area to the other and it is nearly impossible to find anyone's house with just directions. The ward is nice and big. There are a ton of families and seems like a lot of the people understand what they need to do. I have been told that the area hasn't had a baptism in weeks but that will be changing soon enough. This week, we have a marriage so you can expect pictures of that next week. But yeah it's been busy and I am excited to work with the members here. 
 
 
Baptism of Mayra from last week
 
I am kind of sad that there hasn't been any signs of a baby for Mark and Christy yet. But I understand that you don't have too much control over that. It will be interesting to head back to BYU with a new President at the helm. I keep hearing about how bad that whole situation in Ukraine is. It doesn't seem to bother people here.  
 
Well, until next week everyone! I love you lots and I will talk to you later!

Tchão!
Elder Dorff

 

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